Katmai Mom & Cub

[Arthur Morris]

Just got to my Mom's (five flights--28 hours in all) on Long Island after the Bear Boat IPT :).

This image of a Coastal Brown Bear cub clinging to its mom was created at Geographic Harbor, Katmai National Park, AK with the the tripod-mounted Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens, the 1.4X III TC< and the EOS-1D MArk iV. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/500 sec. at f/8 in Tv mode.
Lens/TC/Camera Body Micro-Adjustment: -4. After the MIV body that I dropped was repaired and the focus was adjusted (by Canon Repair Services) I re-calibrated the 800 with the 1.4X TC; the correct micro-adjustment changed from +10 to -4.

Eliminated some grasses above the bears and lightened the eye sockets. To see a before and after animated GIF click here.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

[Danny J Brown]

You caught mama with a scowl on her face and baby seems vaguely curious. Mama seems kind of skinny with that backbone sticking up. I love the furry ears on the baby and the whole moment is pretty sweet with these two. Mama and baby shots continue to be my all time favorite combo in wildlife photography and this is a great example! Hey Artie.......my eyes keep telling me that the horizon and water lines are all listing down to the left so I'm wondering if the whole thing might need a few degrees of CW rotation. Might just be a land/water perspective conundrum. Who knows?

DB

[Arthur Morris]

I remember checking the bubble level in my camera so it is perfectly level :). There is a crook in the stream behind the bears. Thanks for stopping by.

[Danny J Brown]

Yeah, I should have known you'd be keeping an eye on that bubble level! Thanks again for the sweet image.

DB

[Marc Mol]

Great subject and composition Artie, I do however prefer your warmer colour posting from your blog. The symmetery in the HA's is a nice touch also.
TFS

[Marina Scarr]

Love the intimacy here and the way the mom and cub have almost the same look. The capture looks very real.

[Rachel Hollander]

Artie - looks like they knew you were there. Sweet moment captured. I also prefer the color in the blog photo.

TFS,
Rachel

[Ofer Levy]

Image wasn't saved properly as sRGB so it looks flat. Opened it in PS and colours look warmer.

[Marc Mol]

Image wasn't saved properly as sRGB so it looks flat. Opened it in PS and colours look warmer.

Even viewing in CS5, still can't compare to the warmth of the blog image

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Yep the blog version looks alot better. This is very cute stuff, both of them looking at the camera works very nicely and blog's version has lovely colour and contrast TFS

[Arthur Morris]

Artie - looks like they knew you were there. Sweet moment captured. I also prefer the color in the blog photo. TFS, Rachel

They were actually looking at a big male bear coming towards them on the bear trail just to our left. The big males often kill and eat the cubs....

[Arthur Morris]

Yep the blog version looks alot better. This is very cute stuff, both of them looking at the camera works very nicely and blog's version has lovely colour and contrast TFS

I re-did the image as the version on the blog looked much to orange (warm) to me. I prefer this as more realistic :)

[Arthur Morris]

Image wasn't saved properly as sRGB so it looks flat. Opened it in PS and colours look warmer.

Thanks Ofer. I have been creating my 1024 wide jpegs individually and forgot about the color space.... I will need to remember that in my workflow.

[Steve Canuel]

Nice pose. I like the colors of this one better than the one from the blog, these seem more in line with overcast skies. I also like the habitat, especially the grassy perch they're resting on.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Nice to see you posting in "Wildlife", Artie...

Lovely moment...using the 800+1.4 must be something to get used to! I like the work you did on the grasses and eyes, and having looked at the blog post, maybe the ideal 'warmth' is somewhere between the 2?

[Arthur Morris]

Nice to see you posting in "Wildlife", Artie... Lovely moment...using the 800+1.4 must be something to get used to! I like the work you did on the grasses and eyes, and having looked at the blog post, maybe the ideal 'warmth' is somewhere between the 2?

Thanks Mork. I will post another bear soon. While I do use the 800 routinely with the 1.4X III TC the above was a brain typo; this image was created with the 800 alone. Do note that I have even made sharp images with the 800 and the 2X II TC using Live View/Live Mode AF to focus.... As described in my 7d and MIV User's Guides.